Tsunami Treasure Hunt

A couple of Sundays ago my family planned at little beach picnic for after church since the weather was staying so warm every day.  Unfortunately, the clouds didn't roll away and the wind was rather chilly, so we had lunch at my parent's house and then headed for the beach anyway to kill some time before going to the movies to see "Brave."

The kids mostly looked for shells and dodged waves.  The wind was outrageous!

Adam thought it would be fun to go treasure hunting for debris that has washed up from the tsunami in Tokyo last year.  Quite honestly, I didn't think we would find anything, but we did! Among several washed up 2x4s and random pieces of siding, we found a large handful of drink bottles with Japanese writing on them and Adam found a fluorescent light bulb...it said "made in Japan" on it...ha ha.

Henry and Adam being "Japanese" dorks.

Our bottle caps.  Adam found the one that has "2011" printed on it...pretty neat that it has the year of the Tsunami on it!

Softball Season

When it came time for Synnove to sign up for softball again this year, she was hot and cold.  I was really hoping that I wasn't going to have to beg her to sign up again.  Fortunately, her friends got her excited about it and it wasn't a fight.  This is only our 2nd year in being involved with Knappa Summer Recreation, and I'm not too impressed.  Parents and coaches spend a good 3-4 months trying to trace the rabbit trail of poor communication.  The weather is a big factor for any sport played on the coast.  And, as usual, we spent the first two months playing the cancel/reschedule game.  We were only able to have a small handful of practices before games started, and because of the weather, sometimes the girls didn't play for a week or more.  There were only 9 girls on our team, so there were times when we only had 5 or 6 girls on the field!  

There were 2 Knappa girls teams, so we tried to scrimmage once a week in the first month.

Synnove started the season fairly strong and was able to get on base at virtually every game.  Her no-hit streak started in her last two weeks of playing.  3 games and no hits.  She doesn't like playing in games, as she gets pretty nervous.  She always had a big crowd of her own fans :)



Little Miss Evelyn was by far Synnove's biggest fan.  My sweet sister made it to all but two games (one because I didn't tell her about it)!

The last game was last Thursday and the coach bought each of the girls an engraved trophy.  Synnove was sooo excited for that.  I really enjoy watching Synnove play and I hope she will want to play again next year. Even Soren will be able to play! 

Our Crazy 4th of July

We had a crazy 4th!  We started the day still camping.  There were only a few of us left at camp, but we made the most of it and even cooked up a feast for "cowboy breakfast" before starting the packing up process.  Of course, the sun was out while we loaded up to go home...always bittersweet, especially when the 5 camping days were mostly overcast and rainy here and there.  We had to move kinda fast because we needed to get home and clean up before heading into Warrenton for the annual 4th of July parade.  Adam took the kids down to the creek for a little bit while I started loading up the trailer to make the 50 minute drive home.  Once home, we put the trailer away and I unloaded as fast as I could.  Of course, everyone had to have a bath/shower and we raced out of the house later than planned.  We arrived in Warrenton only 10-15 minutes before the parade was supposed to start and all the streets were blocked off.  We parked far away and made the long trek to where are "parade party" was camped.  The parade lasted 45 minutes and the kids got lots of candy.  Because we rushed out of the house to get there, I didn't take the time to get our stuff together to watch the fireworks in Astoria that evening, so the kids walked with Grandpa back to his house after the parade, while Adam and I planned to head home.  After a little "lost child" scare (dad couldn't find Soren) Adam and I grabbed some fish and chips before going home.  Adam worked outside while I cleaned up and did laundry from camping.  Then, we all met at Elise's coffee shop on the dock at around 9:00 to wait for the big fireworks show.  The kids were in bed at around 11:00.

The kids sat in front to get all the good candy at the Parade.

Those fire trucks are loud!

Grandma Barb was this years Grand Marshall.  She passed out candy with Michael and Halle.

Sleepy Avyrie

My Dad heckled virtually every float/car that went by...saying "where's all the candy?!?!" (among other things)

This year's Regatta float is pretty awesome! We love our FiFi (the hot blonde towards the rear)!!

Camping Pics

Poor Heidi was in and our of the ER twice for kidney stones.  She eventually finished off her camping trip at home.

The Bigelows borrowed our tent and created an awesome tarp shelter for the forecasted rain.

Dad has lots of experience with tarp shelters.  Northwest Coastal camping requires lots of "tarpage"

2nd annual shooting competition.  Uncle Don won again!

"Mema" Lori playing some baseball with the kids.

The kids spent LOTS of time playing "house" under the trees with the play doh pasta maker Elise bought for them.

We had our traditional potluck on Sunday...lots of yummy food!

Avyrie was going to be turning 1 on the 5th.  We celebrated with cupcakes and gifts at the potluck.

Avyrie didn't like the whole cupcake eating experience so much.  She's good at the "stinkface"

I make blueberry pancakes at every camping trip on one of the mornings.

We camped for 5 days starting the weekend before the 4th, but several still had to work on Monday and Tuesday.  There were only a few of us at camp Monday and it was a dreary/rainy day.  So, the kids camped out in Chris and Tonya's trailer to watch "The Muppets" and dry out for a while.

On the eve of the 3rd, Chris Wilson and Elise set off all the fireworks Chris Bigelow had bought. From left to right: Synnove, Soren, Lori, Tyler, and Faith.

Father's Day Bowling

We didn't have anything planned for Father's Day this year.  My parents were in Massachusetts for my Dad's pilot simulator training, so celebrating with them wasn't an option.  At the last minute we got a call from my Bro-in-law asking if we wanted to go bowling after church.  So, we made a day of it and invited Chris and Tonya too!  The kids were pretty excited to see Faith (Chris and Tonya had JUST gotten back from the long drive to California to pick her up the night before!) and Forrest.  Us moms played with the babies and the dads bowled with the kids.  After a couple of games, Elise, Synnove, Evie, and I headed to Astoria High School to watch Heidi's dance recital.

I love this picture.  I asked the kids to say "cheese"...and Faith put her arms up...lol!

Forrest wasn't happy he had to smile for the camera...so he didn't :)

The kids played in their own lane, while the guys played in another.  Of course, Chris Bigelow won.

We had pizza delivered to the alley...I made the Dads pose :)

Daisy Troop Bridging Ceremony



I was pretty excited when at the start of the school year Synnove decided that she wanted to be in Daisy Girl Scouts.  Synnove is pretty shy and doesn't really like to try new things. Two of her best friends, Brooke O'Connor and Grace Olson were joining, and their influence spurred Synnove's interest.  The girls meet after school every other Tuesday and do a myriad of lessons and activities.  Their leader, Sue Krusick, is fantastically organized and plans lots of fun things for the girls to do.  When it came time to sell cookies, us parents were less than thrilled.  Daisy scouts don't have to participate if they choose not to, but Sue decided it would be good experience for the girls.  Again, I was excited to see how pumped Synnove was about selling cookies.  I think she thought she was going to get to keep all the money...lol!  Though a bit timid, she made phone calls to the usual family members and friends and ended up selling around 100 boxes!  The girls also set up a little booth and the local Country Market in Svensen.  Some of the other activities the girls did during their year were singing Christmas carols at the senior center and participating in the school talent show.  In the spring, Sue, along with co-leader Alyson O'Connor, planned an all-day pajama party at the Girl Scout cabin in Seaside.  The girls played games, ate smores (from the microwave), painted nails, and did other fun girly things.

On June 2nd, all of the Daisy troop "bridged" to become Brownies.  Daisy girls are k-1st grade, but the girls only had 1st graders in their troop.  The ceremony was conducted at the Gnat Creek Fish Hatchery, and though the weather was dreary, the rain remained a light mist if it rained at all.  After doing a few ceremonial things, all of us hiked the trail to a small bridge on Gnat Creek where the girls bridged over to receive their new vests and say their Girl Scout pledge.  We then returned to the picnic area and watched the girls sing a few songs and have some cake.

Before the bridging.  The 4 girls on the left are in Synnove's Daisy troop. Katie Krusick, Grace Olson, Synnove, and Grace Adams (we were missing Brooke O'Connor).  The two girls on the right are brownies bridging to Junior Girl Scouts.

The girls actually crossed a little bridge to go from being a Daisy to being a Brownie.

Brownies! Afterwards, each girl got a box of brownie mix and a certificate.



Soren's Preschool Graduation

From Soren's preschool graduation on May 31st, 2012...

Bored.

Bored-er.

Bored-est.

Though Soren looks bored in these pictures, he did a fantastic job in the ceremony.  He was one of the loudest singers and said his memory verse with volume and confidence!  The kids even said the Lord's Prayer and he knows every word. I'm so proud of this little guy and there is no doubt he will excel in the years to come.  Ha ha...he gets annoyed and confused when Synnove doesn't do her math homework right because she insists she's got the right answer.  I'm sure you can imagine the look on Synnove's face when either Adam or I tell her that Soren is actually right!  What Soren "lacks" in sass, he makes up for in smarts :)